


Off the Deep End

by westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Episode Tag, Episode: s06e22 2162 Votes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-07-07
Updated: 2005-07-07
Packaged: 2019-05-31 04:46:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15112082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist/pseuds/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist
Summary: "Hey, Baby...um, by the way..."  Leo makes a phone call before the announcement.





	Off the Deep End

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

**Off the Deep End**

**by: Kasey**

**Character(s):** Leo, Mallory  
**Category(s):** Post-Ep  
**Rating:** TEEN  
**Disclaimer:** I still don't own them. Please don't sue.  
**Summary:** "Hey, Baby...um, by the way..." Leo makes a phone call before the announcement.  
**Spoiler:** 2162 Votes  
**Author's Note:** Haven't written a post-ep in like forever. Blame Janie. 

He checked his watch - he had...eighteen minutes now before the networks would have something new to break into a Law and Order repeat over. But a few things had to be taken care of first. 

One in particular. 

"Josh, keep the lions at bay a minute - there's someone I've gotta call." 

"You bet," he grinned and left, and Leo pulled out his cell. 

It rang twice, three times, and he wondered if she might be out. Unlike most of the people in his world, she wasn't necessarily glued to her television set. 

"Dad?" She sounded concerned. 

"Hey, baby," he smiled, sitting down and looking at the monitors down the hall as he spoke. No banner headlines yet - good. 

"Is everything okay? I thought you'd be going busy with all of this..." He could hear the faint blare of the convention coverage in the background. So she was watching it. 

"Yeah, it's a circus," he grinned wryly. 

"Are you getting enough rest?" 

"Yeah. So listen...Mal, I need you to take a leave of absence for the first semester." 

"What's going on, Dad?" she asked, more suspicious as she went over possibilities in her head. "Is it-" She stopped, and from down the hall Leo could see the breaking news banner flash across the screen. "...Father? Why are they saying on CNN that you're going to be the next Vice President?" she asked in a tightly sweet tone. 

"...Can ya come campaign with me." 

"Are you out of your mind? You had a heart attack less than a year ago because you were working too hard, now you're going to campaign non-stop for three months for that jerk?" 

"Mallory!" he said, surprised. 

"I'm sorry, Dad, but as a public school teacher-" 

"It's a nuanced position-" 

"He wants to lengthen the school year and take away tenure. What in that is nuanced?" When he didn't have an immediate comeback, he could hear her lips press together and curl upward slightly in a short-lived victory, when she said, "So how long have you known about this?" 

"Honestly, Mal? A half hour." 

"Whose idea was it?" _and who do I need to strangle?_ she added mentally, making a note to call Abby to find a way to make the president find her father a way out of it. 

"Josh brought it to me." 

"Then that's who I'll be killing," she smiled sweetly. 

"Baby-" 

"Don't. They're going to destroy you, Dad. You can't do this." 

"My heart is fine-" 

"I'm not talking about your heart. Which isn't fine, but...I've spent the last day listening to stories about the governor's poor wife who suffered with depression, linking it back to the MS...You're still considered a co-conspirator. They're gonna talk about that. They're gonna talk about the Valium, and the drinking, and the divorce - do you want all that out there? It was bad enough when you went public, now again and ten times worse?" She sighed softly and he cringed just a little. He hadn't exactly taken that part of it into consideration when saying yes. He knew the issues would be brought up, but he hadn't factored in that Jenny and Mal would be subjected to it all again. Too late for that now. 

"Mal...please," he said quietly. "Do this for me." 

She pressed her lips together and considered. "...I'll...call Rhoda tomorrow, see about taking a semester off." 

"That's great," he grinned. 

"...You'll have to call Mom at some point." 

"Oh, I have no doubt she'll be calling me when she sees the morning newspaper." 

She paused a moment. "You'll need your own campaign person, right? Your own staff...Josh is managing Santos's campaign, the White House still has and needs people...?" 

"Yeah, we're looking for guys." 

"Get Sam Seaborn," she smiled, almost smirking. 

"Mal..." he smiled and shook his head. 

"He's good at what he does - and speaking's important in a vice presidential campaign, moreso than policy." 

"You just want someone to hang out with during the campaign trips." 

"Well, that doesn't hurt," she smiled, enjoying messing with her father. 

Josh came over and stuck his head into the office. "Leo, we've gotta go make this official." 

"Gotta go, baby - I'll call tomorrow." 

"Knock 'em dead, Dad," she smiled proudly. 

"I will. Love you." 

"Love you too. Now go before Josh's hairline recedes anymore than it already has." 

He laughed softly. "I'll tell him you said that." 

"Go right ahead. I'll talk to you later." She hung up and Leo smiled as he turned his phone to silent and slipped it into his pocket. 

"Ready to go do this?" Josh asked, already starting toward the stage, in now-permanent overdrive. 

"Yeah - let's go jump off the cliff." 


End file.
